ISSN 1314-6874

E-Newsletter

Bulgarian English Teachers’ Association

© Published bimonthly by the Bulgarian English Teachers’ Association (BETA-IATEFL)

Issue 33, Year VII, January – February 2018

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CONTENTS

Editors’ Corner ………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….. 3

Exploring “Poetry in Motion”:

Teaching a Poem about Hiroshima August 6, 1945 (Bill Templer). ..…..……….……………. 5

Practical Aspects of the Communicative Approach

in Foreign Language Teaching (Milena Cherneva) ……………………………..………………..…. 23

Being a Young Teacher (Maria Stoyanova) ……..……………………….…………………………….. 35

Interview with: Marjorie Rosenberg (Tanya Bikova) ………………………………………………. 39

Poetry Corner: The Kindness of Strangers (Brian Bilston) .………………………………………. 48

Forthcoming Events in the World of ELT …….………………………………………………………….. 49

Writing for the BETA E-Newsletter …………………………………………………………………………. 51

Notes for Contributors …………………………………………………………………………………………… 52

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Editors’ Corner

Dear Readers,

In tune with the approaching spring and the

accompanying adventurous spirit, this issue invites you

to a journey through the landscape of language

education.

Our first stop is an article on Poetry in Motion by our regular contributor Bill Templer

– this time Bill turns his attention to issues of war, peace, and humanity, and suggests

a host of activities to teach both English and global citizenship. We then continue with

Practical Aspects of the Communicative Approach, where Milena Cherneva shares her

experience in using communicative activities with her high-school students and

provides lots of practical examples. Our third stop is a contribution by a teacher at the

beginning of her teaching career – in Being a Young Teacher, Maria Stoyanova

describes what attracted her to the profession and what stimulates her to develop

her teacher expertise. The journey then leads us to Tanya Bikova’s interview – this

time with Marjorie Rosenberg, IATEFL President 2015-2017, and plenary speaker at

the 27th BETA-IATEFL Conference in June.

Our final stop is at the Poetry Corner. Here you can meet Brian Bilston and his The

Kindness of Strangers – a powerful call for humanity, which, we hope, will find an

echo in your classrooms.

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Traditionally, you can find details about forthcoming ELT events and the e-newsletter

contribution guidelines on the final pages of this volume.

Happy reading!

Zarina Markova

Issue Editor

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Exploring “Poetry in Motion”: Teaching a Poem

about Hiroshima August 6, 1945

Bill Templer

Hiroshima, October 1945. Photo by Shigeo Hayashi Boy in the ruins of Hiroshima http://goo.gl/LUkXtb http://goo.gl/pdnGWU

Students and teachers today live and learn in an

exponentially expanding digital cosmos within the

“entangled media practices of communicative

capitalism” (Dean 2016: 9; 2005; 2013). We are also in

perilous political and social times: images of war,

violence and suffering bombard us. Ominously, a new

East-West nuclear arms race (Cold War 2.0?) may now

loom. As Gangwer (2009) stresses, our students think,

see and communicate more and more in images,

learning through visual stimulation, a “deeply cognitive activity” (Clare 2017: 37). This

paper introduces a multimodal approach to “poetry in motion” (Templer 2009):

images, animation as an online frame. The paper’s second half explores one famous

short poem through this lens, about the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, an

Bill Templer is a Chicago-born educator, with teaching and research interests in ELF, American literature, and social Justice pedagogy. He has taught English and German at universities in 10 countries, including Ireland, Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia, and in Shumen, Svishtov and Veliko Turnovo. Bill is active on the IATEFL GISIG Comm and is based in eastern Bulgaria. Email: templerbill@gmail.com

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exemplary form of “Peace art: words and images interwoven” (Brzezinska 2017). The

text by poet Nâzim Hikmet is simple, haunting, a plea by a dead child aged 7 for an

end to war and violence. The article stresses the value of poetry visualized as a prism

for insight and empathy (Krznaric 2012; 2014), also in looking at social issues today

(Maley & Peachey 2017; Xerri 2017). Such ‘kinetic art’ can open learners’ hearts and

mind space, fostering critical digital literacies (Albers 2018).

Introduction

Poetry tends to be the Cinderella in most EFL classrooms. In an empirical study in

Malaysian secondary schools, Siti Norliana (2008) found that “students express

negative attitudes towards reading poems and novels. Almost 70% of the students

find poems demanding, followed by novels, with a total of 62%. Poems are

considered challenging as ‘every word has its underlying meaning’, the language is

deemed difficult, especially in archaic poems.” Multimodal visual poetry on Internet

video – poetry in motion – is a rapidly expanding genre. It is a superb tool for

energizing the reading and appreciation of poems in the language classroom. This

paper provides teachers with a brief introduction to a range of visualized poems,

some framing in terms of “transmodality” and its pedagogy, and then looks in

multifaceted depth at a single “poem in motion,” from the beginning of the “atomic

age” and still relevant today. Angles for classroom-based research abound (Albers

2018). We all are better at retaining words + images in long-term memory.

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The emergence and growth of poetry in motion – combining audio, music, motion

graphics, video, photography, paintings – is the prime focus of Poetry Visualized, a

multimodal arts initiative that was unfortunately discontinued on Internet, but a

number of their videos are still accessible. On YouTube, Poetry Everywhere (of the

Poetry Foundation) ever more videoed interpretations of poems are being

uploaded regularly. Teachers will be surprised by how inventive and beautiful

some of these creations are, a number designed by students. One example:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning‘s Sonnet 43 ―How Do I Love Thee? (1845), a playful

animated Peanuts visual rendering of this love poem. This visual poem exemplifies

another prime kind of ‘play genre’ for literature in the language arts classroom in

Cook’s (2000) sense of experimental play-centered pedagogies, and is in full tune

with Alan Maley’s (2008) conception of the ‘aesthetic approach’ in EFL materials

that needs to be creatively expanded in EFL learning and teacher education and

development. Such poems are also central to many of the concerns centered on

‘the image in English language teaching’ developed in Donaghy & Xerri (2017) ,

and see Donaghy’s “A Single Life”―although ‘poetry in motion’ is not touched on

in the book. Xerri (2017) deals with Warsan Shire’s poem “Home” in an animated

reading. Such poetry visualized is also germane as genre to the 2018 GISIG IATEFL

PCE on ‘Social Justice and ELT Through the Visual Arts.’

Transmodality in lyric miniature

Many such videos are highly imaginative, combining image, music, the text of the

poem, its reading as performance, and aspects of a text’s ‘visual’ interpretation.

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This also contributes to enhancing skills in ‘visual literacy,’ a core element in the

impact of comics and graphic novels (Schwarz 2002; 2007; Schwarz & Crenshaw

2011) on learners, and the entire gamut of video games (Gee 2003), often in their

first language. Multimodality as an interdisciplinary research focus centers on

exploring the “multiple modes (e.g. spoken, written, printed and digital media,

embodied action, and three-dimensional material objects and sites) through

which social semiosis takes place” (O’Halloran 2006: 7; Kress & Van Leeuwen

2006; Albers 2018). Visual literacy ranges from better comprehending gesture,

facial expression, photographs to aspects of performance, use of space, clothing,

visual angles and much more. Music may also play a prime role in a multimodal

mix. As a mode of semiotic ‘transmodality’ (Hawkins 2018), visualized poems

incorporate many such dimensions, and this article argues that they can ignite

imagination in special ways, tapping students’ multiple intelligences (Puchta 2005;

Puchta & Rinvolucri 2005; Palmberg 2011; Markova 2006), honing “emotional

literacy” (Goleman 1995), empathy (Krznaric 2012; 2014), critical mind space

within social justice pedagogy (Skuttnabb-Kangas et al. 2009; Clare 2017),

galvanizing insights for ‘critical cosmopolitanism’ (Hawkins 2018; Kramsch 2017).

A sampler of visualized poetry

For starters, several short visual poems I have used with very positive response

are Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate (2001-03) and a teacher of English:

"Walking Across the Atlantic," “The Country,” and “The Dead.” For starters, enjoy

and ponder Billy Collins‘ classic animated poem, Walking Across the Atlantic, and

his poems The Country and The Dead. Billy Collins’ fantasy about breaking free

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and walking on the ocean’s rolling surface from New York back to Europe is

brilliantly illustrated. “The Country” is a modern fable about mice and fire. Collins

develops a web of surprising metaphors, and insights burnished with humor. “The

Dead” is a reverie about the spirits playfully watching over us like guardian angels,

“looking down, through the glass-bottom boats of heaven, as they row

themselves slowly through Eternity.” Ponder them for yourself, show and discuss

with students. They can analyze and interpret what they see, his verse simple.

In a meditative imaging activity, after viewing the poetry animation of Collins’

“Walking Across the Atlantic,” students can imagine they themselves, eyes closed,

are walking across a vast sea. They are then asked to describe in a paragraph, or a

small group exchange, what they saw in their mind’s eye, the sounds they heard,

inwardly, their tactile sensations in this ‘mindshare’ meditation on crossing the

Atlantic “on foot” [!]. They are instructed to allow their imagination to “create the

situation […] as vividly as possible. Focus on what you can see, hear and feel”

(Puchta & Rinvolucri 2005: 119). Alternatively, they can imagine they are the

mouse that discovers fire in the animated poem “The Country,” and can write or

speak a kind of interior monologue by the mouse: what she may feel, “think.”

After watching Collins’ animated poem “The Dead” several times, students can be

encouraged to write a paragraph, perhaps even discuss in small groups how they

feel about death, how they have experienced the death of friends, loved ones,

animals. They can attempt to articulate some thoughts about life’s meaning,

spiritual or otherwise. The poem engages what Gardner calls “existential

intelligence”(Gardner 1999: 59 ff.) and thematizes the ultimate question. The

visual poem “The Dead” also evokes images of protective spirits of the dead

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hovering nearby, a belief common in some cultures. Perhaps students also have

certain beliefs about ghosts, although not ‘political,’ as in Hikmet’s poem.

“I Come and Stand at Every Door”

The main focus in the remainder of this article is Nâzim Hikmet’s 1956 poem, original

in Turkish “Kız Çocuğu” (‘The Little Girl’), here in its standard English translation “I

Come and Stand at Every Door.” Hikmet wrote it perhaps while a political prisoner in

Turkey. It is the monologue of the ghost of a 7-year-old girl killed in the Aug. 6, 1945

bombing of Hiroshima. In 1962, Pete Seeger found a translation by Jeanette Turner

and the band The Byrds soon recorded it in 1966; they set it to music based on an old

Scottish ballad, “The Great Silkie.” It is also a basis for students to learn and think

about the terrible destruction and death from this bombing, and the broader issue of

nuclear warfare, CND today. Students who don’t know Hikmet’s work can learn more

here. Translations of his poetry are here. Here an introduction to the poem (2008).

For starters, show students this striking BBC introductory video on the bombing

before introducing the poem. It has been watched online by over 11,000,000. Discuss

in groups what the students’ personal ‘take-aways’ from viewing this video are.

Students can then watch this animated video, with the Byrds’ music, see what they

can follow of the simple text, with photos of Hiroshima before and after. The very last

frame is of an iconic pocket watch found in the ruins, stopped at 8:15 a.m., the

moment of the searing blast. Students can read, begin to discuss the text of the

poem in English. They can watch this poem recitation animated. Here sung by This

Mortal Coil (1991), the text visual. Distribute the lyrics to students (see below). First,

they can read aloud in unison. Then read to themselves and discuss in groups.

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I come and stand at every door My hair was scorched by I ask for nothing for myself But no one hears my silent swirling flame For I am dead, for I am dead tread My eyes grew dim my eyes All that I ask for is for peace I knock and yet remain unseen grew blind You fight today, you fight today For I am dead, for I am dead Death came and turned my So that the children of this world I'm only seven although I died bones to dust May live and grow and laugh In Hiroshima long ago And that was scattered by the and play I'm seven now as I was then wind When children die they do not

grow I need no fruit I need no rice

I need no sweets nor even bread

They then can watch this ‘poem in motion’ with Pete Seeger singing, very different

visuals, some Palestinian. Ask students to look again and comment on some of the

visuals. Why were they chosen? Here a performance with the Sands family, at the

Tonder Folk Festival in Denmark, memorable together with Pete Seeger. If you

have Turkish-speaking students, they will appreciate the original poem in Turkish,

also here in a symphonic rendition in Turkey; see also this video, combining

Turkish and English. Here in Japanese. Here the text in Bulgarian. You can show

students a rendering of the old Scottish ballad “The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry,”

Child Ballad #113 in Scottish folklore. Another version with music by This Mortal

Coil is visually very striking, but with powerful animated images that may be

frightening to children, it can be shown with caution. Here an animated survivor’s

actual story, by Bun, then aged 14, a hibakusha (A-bomb survivor); here about

“Sadako’s story,” another hibakusha, a memorable tale students will appreciate;

supplement with this text and video on Sadako. Here an essay about the poem.

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Students can also watch this 8-minute animation of the bombing, and discuss in

small groups; some students may find the animated images upsetting. In working

with the longer animation, tell students that they are going to: • Watch carefully

for one minute • Make a list of up to ten words or phrases about what they saw

• Share them in class • Repeat the activity (look at another minute or two/add

more words or phrases/share). • In looking at images of the bombing as suggested

above, they can also concentrate on one or two photos and so the same activity.

• They can also do similar visual concentration looking at images in videos of the

poem, analyzing, interpreting (cf. Papalazarou, 2017, p. 101; Clare, 2017). • The

poem’s voice is of a girl. Why? Many hibakusha were female. Teachers can utilize

related ideas from Brzezinska (2017), excellent suggestions for ‘peace education,’

writing ‘peace acrostics,’ etc. She stresses (p. 125): “Peace is indispensable for any

civilization to develop and flourish. We, teachers, shapers of future generations,

are obliged, more than others, to make every possible effort to empower our

students to preserve harmony and promote reconciliation in this scarred world.”

Here another excellent visual rendition, its imagery reflecting in part more recent

wars.

Ask students to imagine they were in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and write an account

of their survival. Students can visualize an atomic attack on their own city today,

and write a poem or letter to a distant friend about what they felt and did. They

can write a three-line haiku poem centering on what they’ve read (Bamford & Day

2004: 152; Lindstromberg 2004: 162). Students can discuss, write about how they

see war and violence in the global mediascape today, in Yemen, Syria , Myanmar.

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Further activities abound

Teachers looking for a range of possible activities can explore Maley and Duff’s

(1989) rich array of suggestions, especially “preparing for the poem” (pp. 17-34)

and “working into the poem” (pp. 35-69). The discussion of “poetry’s unique

advantages” in TEFL classes (pp. 8-16) is particularly cogent and convincing. Maley

and Duff (2007) also offers many good selections for activities with poetry,

including clear and compact lesson plans. Useful are the activities on examining

imagery, sound and figurative language in Campbell (2007: 155-63), and learning

to “converse with poetry” through dialogue journals (pp. 154-56). Collie and Slater

(1987: 226-46) have excellent suggestions on “warm-up” and “follow-up” learning

tasks for poems. Lindstromberg (2004: 161-89) has superb ideas for working with

poems. Bamford and Day (2004) provide a various heads-on activities applicable

to reading poetry, also writing poetry in response, centered on Extensive Reading

of all kinds. Fanselow (2017) is a treasure chest of practical ideas (against the

grain) about rethinking small activities, such as read and look up and say what you

have read. A number of Fanselow’s videos are accessible. Learning vocabulary

with a fun cartoon for each lexeme is a new visually-anchored approach, Mrs

Wordsmith, well worth experimenting with, launched in the UK in 2016, albeit a

bit costly.

Atomic bomb test in the Pacific in the 1950s http://goo.gl/VGRpCk

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Learning about the Bombing

What do your students know and think about WW II in Europe and Asia? Ask them

to describe the stark photo above. Here a brief article and various activities about

the Hiroshima bombing for EFL learners; there is an easier and a harder version.

Here a range of related topics regarding the bombing. There are also lesson plans

on Hiroshima online. With teacher guidance, students can choose a topic and

report to the class what they discover here, perhaps working in pairs or troikas.

Students can work with a range of images, describing and interpreting what they

see; also the three images in this article. Here a video presenting unique imagery:

the eerie shadows burned on walls and ground by the blast, of people and objects.

Here a US Army Report 1945 on the explosion. Hiroshima had a population of

245,000 when the bomb exploded; 90% of the doctors in the city were killed or

injured; perhaps show this US report. Here on the Nagasaki bombing 9 Aug.

1945, the 2nd massacre. This from CND in the UK. A Guardian article by Jon Savage

(2009) on the poem is relevant, quite timely. He notes: “No pop song had gone so

far, nor pitched it so right. … Nuclear weapons haunted 60s pop culture. … The

Byrds put this masterpiece of tension and release into the US top 30 when its

parent album Fifth Dimension entered the charts in September 1966. With nuclear

weapons back in the news, this haunting, almost forgotten, song still strikes a

chord.” It is indeed existential. John Pilger (2008) reminds us: “The atomic

bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a criminal act on an epic scale. It was

premeditated mass murder that unleashed a weapon of intrinsic criminality.”

Many US historians today think there was no need to bomb Hiroshima or Nagasaki

to end the war ― students can listen carefully to the brief video with Hasan

(2016)―rather, the bomb was dropped as a ‘warning’ to the Soviet Union, the

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‘first shot’ in the then emergent Cold War (Lifton & Mitchell, 1996; Pilger, 2008).

Also insightful is the talk in 2014 by journalist Abby Martin: “Debunking the myth.”

Nuclear disarmament now!

What do students think about nuclear disarmament as a goal in their own future?

In December 2017, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International

Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The presentation speech is well

worth reading or using excerpts with students for response. These are omnicidal

weapons. As many warn: abolish these weapons or they will abolish us. Students

can be encouraged to explore ICAN and develop their own opinion, or can in

groups debate the pros and cons. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is also a site

learners can explore. B-level students can read and discuss a timely article, “A

Time to Reflect”, from Japan in 2015, strongly urging nuclear disarmament.

Students can watch a video on Japan in the dark nuclear shadow of North Korea.

Washington has released its 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, which some experts at

the Bulletin criticize. Meanwhile, a retro reality of a superpower nuclear arms race

threatens. Students can explore the 2017 World Conference Against A & H

Bombs. This is how a nuclear attack order would be issued now in seconds by a US

president.

Training drills at school

Beginning in the 1950s and later on in the US, there were regular school drills

against atomic attack. Quite scary. An iconic 1951 educational film was “Duck and

Cover,” produced by the federal Civil Defense Administration and the National

Education Association. Show to students, discuss. Was there anything similar in

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socialist Bulgaria during the Cold War? This was what young American children

(like me) personally experienced in the early 1950s, however naïve the film is

about lethal radiation. In Japan, school drills against nuclear attack are now

developing. In dark irony, today two-thirds of all US schools practice lockdown

drills―not against nuclear attack but to hide from a mass shooter, as on

Valentine’s Day 2018 in Parkland, Florida; there have been 290 US school

shootings since 2013. Young people are leading the calls for action over gun

violence, waking up, as Jimmy Kimmel stresses. Firms rethink their position. US

street protests, especially by teens, have made ‘gun control’ a key 2018 issue:

show this impassioned video with Emma Gonzalez, a Parkland survivor. Here

survivor interviews, incredible stories. Sofia, 15, desires to be an activist. US

teachers ask: “should I be a human shield?” President Trump recommends arming

teachers. Many teachers oppose that, some already armed. What do your

students, colleagues think? Melissa Falkowski protected her pupils. Yet fightback is

churning: “for the times they are a-changin’.”

Dylan

♫♫ Most songs are clearly ‘poetry in motion’ in some form set to music, visual

performance. Iconic and relevant now more than ever is poet/folk singer Bob

Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1963), an anti-the-System poem in then

troubled times, full of hope for a new generation, but with a stark warning for

those unwilling to change; here Dylan live. You can copy the lyrics ― ponder and

discuss: poem structure, message? What is 1st metaphor, who addressed? What is

meant by “the order is rapidly fadin’”? Bob received the Nobel Prize for Literature

in 2016, which was never awarded to a songwriter; read and listen here. This

passion-laden 2010 performance of the song by Sinead O’Connor is powerful. As it

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reminds us: “There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’ / It’ll soon shake your

windows and rattle your walls / For the times they are a-changin’.” His “Blowin’ in

the Wind” (1962), is relevant to social justice and war, here the text, young Dylan

live (1963): “Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one person have / Before he can hear

people cry? Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows / That too many

people have died?”♫

Seeing beyond

Students and teachers can experiment with visualized poetry in motion in the

classroom, “switching on the empathic brain” (Krznaric 2012; 2014). In various

modes of classroom-anchored qualitative and quantitative research (Burns 1999),

educators can examine how poetry visualization can become a powerful tool for

student motivation, enhancing proficiency in language, and sheer fun in opening

students up to lyric poetry, and also song and ballad text more broadly. Consider

case study: qualitative inquiry looking at the “particularity and complexity of a

single case, coming to understand its activity within important circumstances”

(Stake 1995: xi). You can explore even how a single student develops an interest in

‘poetry in motion’ and how it has changed her, or a group of students (Markova

2006). Exploratory Practice (Hanks 2017; 2017a), ‘practitioner research’ can also

be looked at, tapped. Teachers can also investigate key aspects of multimodality

(Bateman 2008; O’Halloran 2006; Kress & Van Leeuwen 2006; Donaghy 2015;

Donaghy & Xerri 2017a; Peachey 2016; Albers 2018; Donaghy 2018), how word

and sound cum image in dynamic fusion act to shape and enrich multiple literacies

(Schwarz 2002; 2007; Schwarz & Crenshaw 2011; Goldstein 2008; Xerri 2017) and

engage a range of multiple intelligences (Puchta 2005; Puchta & Rinvolucri 2005;

Palmberg 2011; Gardner 1999; Markova 2006)―all integral to the “video

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revolution” (Clare 2017), its “trans-spatiality” (Kramsch 2017) within the

“mediated networks of communicative capitalism” (Dean 2016: 6), its paradoxes,

fetishes (Dean 2005; 2013) and exploitative practices, such as digitally tracking

low-wage workers at Amazon. In particular, we need to ponder/practice “critical

literacies” (Skuttnabb-Kangas et al. 2009), their teaching and research (Albers

2018), TEFL in “challenging contexts.” Finally, explore “A Visual Manifesto for

Language Teaching” (Whitcher & Donaghy 2014; Whitcher 2017), relevant to this

broader theme of imaging in TEFL and pedagogical foci of the Visual Arts Circle.

Can such visualizations be used as a transmodal anvil for forging greater

student curiosity about, passion for poetry? Can “kinetic poetic art” be

explored within a ‘critical ELT pedagogy,’ bringing the chaotic world’s crisis-

ridden realities into class, challenging students to think (Brzezinska 2017;

Xerri 2017; Templer 2009; Albers 2018)? Experiment, write it up, share!

But also consider the negative aspects of the “cultural effluvia wafting

through cyberia” competing for “mindshare” (Dean 2005: 52, 53) in the

digitalized knowledge society we live in, that Dean (2013) incisively

critiques. Jodi Dean (2016: 4) warns us: “The celebration of autonomous

individuality prevents us from foregrounding our commonality and

organizing ourselves politically.” Her interview for International Women’s

Day March 8, 2018 is also fully in that ethos of change and new horizons.

References

Albers, Peggy (ed.). (2018). Global Conversations in Literacy Research: Digital and

Critical Literacies. New York: Routledge. http://goo.gl/Pf3WK6

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Bamford, Julian & Day, Richard, R., eds. (2004). Extensive Reading Activities for

Teaching Language. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. http://goo.gl/ybi1Gi

Bateman, John. (2008). Multimodality and Genre: A Foundation for the Systematic

Analysis of Multimodal Documents. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Brzezinska, Magdalena. (2017). Peace Art: Words and Images Interwoven. In K.

Donaghy & D. Xerri (eds.), The Image in English Language Teaching, pp. 117-128.

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Burns, Anne. (1999). Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers.

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Campbell, Kimberly H. (2007). Less is More. Teaching Literature with Short Texts --

Grades 6-12. Portland/ME: Stenhouse.

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Dean, Jodi. (2005). Communicative Capitalism: Circulation and the Foreclosure of

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Dean, Jodi. (2013). The limits of the web in an age of communicative capitalism.

Talk, Left Forum, Dublin/Ireland, 29 June. http://goo.gl/ecqG81

Dean, Jodi. (2016). Crowds and Party. London: Verso. http://goo.gl/nSg9Pc

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idem, The Image in English Language Teaching, pp. 1-11. ELT Council.

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Fanselow, John F. (2017). Small Changes in Teaching Big Changes in Learning:

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Practical Aspects of the Communicative Approach

in Foreign Language Teaching

Milena Cherneva

Contemporary foreign language teachers have

been influenced by communicative

methodology as a major trend in language

teaching. My personal experience as a teacher

of English has brought me to the firm idea that

communicative language teaching is a useful

approach not only because it facilitates foreign

language acquisition, but also because it

enhances learners’ role in education.

In 1997, Rod Ellis identified two major trends

in foreign language teaching: an increasing emphasis on the learners’ role in

education, and attempts to address rigorous descriptions of language as

communication through teaching activities (Ellis 1997). In this respect, some of the

aspects of the communicative approach might still need some clarification as we

would find it difficult to fit an exclusively communicative methodology into our

daily teaching. This article illustrates my take on the main advantages of the

communicative approach and shares my experience in implementing it in the

classroom.

Milena Cherneva has been teaching English as a foreign language at ‘Geo Milev’ English Language School, Ruse, for 11 years. She has an MA in British Studies and has done post graduate studies in EFL teaching methodology. Milena has completed teacher training courses in Bulgaria, the UK and Germany. She has been part of Erasmus + projects and mobilities. Milena is interested in creative methodology and innovative teaching. Email: milena_els@yahoo.com

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Communicative methodology in the classroom

It is a fact that sometimes teachers find it difficult to fit a predominately

communicative methodology into their lessons, and sometimes students are

asked to simply apply an identical formula to different information. However,

although non-communicative activities that follow a certain pattern and focus on

form rather than on content may still have a certain place in the process of foreign

language teaching, it is my belief that they should be outnumbered by tasks based

on communicative methodology and affective learning.

Role-play, drama activities, games, simulations, problem solving, project work, etc.

are communicative activities that can add colour to a lesson, and that can be

easily incorporated in it. They are can be both competitive and cooperative, and

can develop not only the academic, but also the interpersonal skills of the learners

who react to them in different ways. Through such activities teachers, and even

students themselves, can identify some specific learning needs and personality

traits, and as a result develop corresponding teaching/learning strategies.

In any case, there should be a clear movement from guided to free practice in

foreign language teaching. Most of the classroom activities should have a

communicative purpose. They are to be meaningful. Above all, they should

encourage and stimulate the process of ‘learning by doing’. Language should be a

means to an end and learners should have opportunities to practice through pair

and group work, and models of interaction need to be varied.

All types of language skills must be emphasized when choosing activities in foreign

language teaching, and the teacher should be a facilitator who provides

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comprehensible input in the classroom by suggesting various activities that help

learners study better.

Communication is when someone has facts, opinions, ideas that the others do not

have. So, information gap or opinion gap activities in which the language used is

largely unpredictable help learners interact in a meaningful way and achieve their

communicative goal – to exchange information or opinions.

When speaking skills are developed and topic-based activities are done,

participants are asked to talk about a (controversial) subject. In this case the focus

is on the discussion process itself. Learners should be able to relate the topic to

their own experience, and all aspects of the controversy should be presented.

However, this could be a difficult task not only due to lack of language knowledge,

but also because of lack of life experience.

That is why, in order to stimulate discussion, the teacher can ask questions or try

to generate ideas through various additional activities. In task-based activities for

developing speaking skills, for example, learners are asked to perform something.

In this case, the discussion process is a means to an end (the completion of a task).

The nature of the task necessitates an observable result (e.g. - a list, a spoken

summary, etc.), i.e. a proof that the task objective has been achieved through

interaction between the participants.

An example of such an activity is the task Focused Listing. It can be used as a

brainstorming technique or as a technique to generate descriptions and

definitions of concepts. Focused listing asks the students to generate ideas to

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define or describe something. Once students have completed this activity, the

teacher can use these lists to facilitate group and class discussion.

Procedure: The teacher asks students to list 5-7 words or phrases that describe or

define what a motivated student does. Then, students might be asked to get

together in small groups to discuss the lists, or to select the one that they can all

agree on.

Still, there are times in the classroom when the focus is on accuracy. During such

activities, the use of instant correction is appropriate. But when the focus is on

fluency, instant correction could interfere with the aims of the activity. That is why

the teacher must be clear on the aim of an activity (accuracy or fluency), and then

use it accordingly.

Communicative activities into practice

Open-ended activities are any activities where there are many possible correct

answers. Their aim is to encourage learners to express their opinion freely even at

elementary level because the focus is not on accuracy, but on active and creative

participation in the communicative process. Vocabulary brainstorming; predicting;

evaluating, ranking, selecting or rejecting items; describing feelings evoked by

pictures or music; describing photographs, pictures or picture differences, people

or places; creating various texts, expanding or contracting texts; solving problems;

simulations of various life situations (genuine role-play); games; project work, etc.

are all examples of activities that can stimulate students’ imagination, and

encourage them to improvise, and communicate.

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An open-ended speaking task that is appropriate mostly for levels A1/A2 could

serve as an illustration:

Houses and Rooms. Pictures of different rooms from the most luxurious to the

most ordinary ones are shown to the students. They choose one of the pictures

and work in pairs to describe it. Students have a basic plan to work with - they

think about the colour scheme, the materials and the furniture in the room. Next,

all the pictures are displayed in front of all students and each pair gives their

description. The rest listen to the descriptions and match them to the pictures.

Then, students make notes about their own plan for their own study or bedroom.

Here the teacher may help with vocabulary and the use of prepositions of place.

Next, students work in pairs asking about each other’s plan. They also ask each

other why they have planned the room in the way they have, why they have

chosen particular colours, etc. Then, they give their opinions about each other’s

plans.

In order to stimulate the speaking activity and to encourage everyone to express

an opinion, the teacher can arrange a post-activity where students vote and

choose the best decorated and most convenient room. They can also draw a quick

sketch of their bedroom or make a collage at home, and think of a feature that

they would improve. The rest of the class can ask questions and discuss in order to

suggest a decision for the problem. As this activity is aimed for fluency, students

should not be interrupted at this stage.

At the end, students could be asked to assess how well they performed and what

they are pleased about. It is good if they share what is difficult for them to say in

English. Teacher’s feedback over any general problem could be given, too.

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Headline expansion is a creative task aiming to practise writing skills. The teacher

collects a variety of newspaper headlines that students need to discuss. Then each

of them chooses a title that is intriguing for them, and writes a newspaper article

with that title. This task is suitable mainly for students aged 15 -18, level B2 and

above.

Question All-Write is an interesting activity in which the teacher interrupts a

discussion or a video the students are listening to or watching to ask relevant

questions to which the students should write answers in their notebooks.

Students’ answers can pique their curiosity, which could stimulate further

discussion. Students could be additionally challenged with a competitive element

– to give the most original answer – and it will provide one more stimulus to

extending knowledge. The task may be done with students aged 16-18; level B2+

and above.

Games are always useful for involving the learners. They could be a good way to

build students’ confidence because they can make learning grammar and spelling

more pleasant. At the same time, the challenge of competition provides additional

stimulus to learning and memorizing. In other words, games can be a simple and

effective way for teachers to teach rules in an entertaining context and a pleasant

way for students to learn because what is learned with interest is more easily

remembered.

There are many different types of games and techniques to play: active and

passive games, dramatic games, card games, treasure hunts, lexical games,

rhyming games and riddles, etc. It depends on the teacher to choose suitable

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games for the learners. This means that skills that are taught, number of students

(players) and level should be taken into consideration. However, the main factor is

holding the interest of the learner.

Abraham Hurwitz and Arthur Goddard (1969) claim that games are ‘a fresh

approach to learning’ and so they offer numerous kinds of activities divided into

four groups: games with rhymes, vocabulary-building games, alphabet and

spelling games, grammar and sentence games.

Games with rhymes and rhythm of verse are usually liked by learners, especially

younger learners who like to experiment with sounds and words. However, they

can be offered to all learners as a fun and relaxing activity.

Rhyme time is an activity requiring only paper, pencil and a clock. Within given

time, students should think of as many words as possible that rhyme with a word

the teacher gives. Each player writes down a list until the time is up and the

longest list wins. The activity is very suitable for levels A1-B1, but it could be

offered to learners of higher levels as well.

Endless word chain is a popular vocabulary game. It shows how words can be

combined to form compounds and builds students’ vocabulary. The first player

begins the word chain by calling out a pair of words that form a compound noun,

like safety pin. Then, the next player must form a new compound noun by

beginning with the last word of the previous player’s compound, for example pin

code. The game proceeds in this way until one player cannot think of a compound

noun. It is liked by learners of different levels, but is most suitable for levels A2-B2.

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Word Pyramids teach word-building, spelling and vocabulary. It is a race game that

starts with an apex consisting of a single letter which is the same for all players.

Each player then adds one letter at a time to make new words, rearranging

previously used letters if necessary. These new words are listed below the original

letter to form a pyramid. The player with the highest pyramid is the winner

provided that all his words are spelled correctly. It could be offered to learners of

all levels. The higher the level is, the more complex the words could be.

Sentence treasure hunt is a game suitable for active learners who like various

activities. However, it is most appropriate for younger learners at level B1-B2.

Some famous quotations, slogans, proverbs, nursery rhymes are written on sheets

of paper with different colour, which are then divided into pieces with words and

phrases. They are hidden around the classroom and should be found by the

learners as hidden treasure. The class is divided into groups. The players of each

team are looking for pieces of paper in a particular colour. Then, within their

groups, the players try to reconstruct the original sentence using all the words and

phrases in the corresponding colour. The first group to do so is the winner. The

game should be played in a big classroom and with no more than 3 teams in order

to avoid chaos. The students must speak English only during this activity – if a

player of a team does not follow this rule, their team is disqualified.

The benefits of such activities are manifold. Imagination is enhanced, and the

development of the ability to think symbolically and abstractly boosts creativity

and intelligence.Through such activities, cooperation, problem solving, and

leadership skills can be cultivated as well. What is more, soft skills such as

personal effectiveness, interaction skills, message encoding and decoding, signal

reception and interpretation, and even orientation are developed. In addition,

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memorizing, cognitive flexibility, self-regulation of emotions and behaviour are

enhanced.

Teachers often learn side by side with students, and what might best help in the

contemporary ‘global classroom’ is exploration and experimentation. It is always

good if the process of learning is accomplished through demonstration, modelling

and simulation because people learn best by doing.

Class or homework communicative tasks can also develop learners’ ability to

understand other cultures and experience. Tasks such as interviews, diaries, peer

evaluation, projects, etc. require students to select and organize a variety of

materials and to present different perspectives on an issue.

Traditional songs, myths, legends and festivals, which give a taste a particular

country and its culture, could be incorporated into project-based activities. This

works well, especially with more advanced or grown-up learners. School

exchanges or exchange of e-mails with students from another country have always

been exciting for learners, and are another way to provide learning opportunities

based on cultural exchange and extensive forms of communication.

Communicative methodology and technology

Nowadays, the Internet is the biggest source of information and the biggest

teaching materials library, and Internet-based activities are among the ones liked

by learners. Logically, they can be implemented in the communicative classroom,

where the teacher becomes the facilitator of the activities that students will be

doing in order to enhance their language knowledge and skills.

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The Internet could be a source for reviewing specific lexis, for example. It could be

used for revising vocabulary of all kinds at all levels. But in order to make these

activities useful, the teacher should select the websites that present a topic best.

The Internet is ideal for extensive reading tasks as well. Virtual libraries and

reading circles provide the opportunity for interactive online discussions. Sites

such as www.rinkworks.com offer numerous activities for those who like reading

and creating stories, and thus boost their communicative competence.

Project-based learning is also part of communicative teaching and today teachers

breathe new life into it. They design projects for their students that develop a

wide range of skills and support learning. Projects challenge students to apply

skills and knowledge from different areas. What is more, learners develop the

ability to search information and summarize it as well as to present it. Teachers

could also be part of the project team and provide support where needed.

The project approach model developed by Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard defines a

project as an in-depth investigation of a real-world topic worthy of the children’s

attention and effort (Chard 1998). According to them, an effective project should

extend beyond the classroom and connect to community explorations and in any

case it should follow certain stages: Preliminary Discussion, Project Development,

Project Presentation and Final Discussion.

1. Preliminary Discussion: before the students start the project the teacher offers

a discussion to discover what they know about a certain topic. Questions arise as a

result of this discussion and become part of the future project investigation. In this

way students’ ability to discuss and formulate questions is practised.

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2. Project Development: the teacher provides resources to help students with

their investigation - printed materials, real objects, videos, Internet resources, etc.

Edutopia: www.edutopia.org , for example, is a website full of resources. At this

stage the students carry out plans, observe, collect data, etc.

3. Project Presentation: the students and the teacher plan and prepare for the

presentation of the final product. Students show how much they have learned and

share their new knowledge with the class and the teacher.

4. Final Discussion: the discussion should begin with overall positive feedback

about the project by the teacher. Then the participants in the discussion share

opinions with the rest of the group (criticism as well, if any). They ask questions

and give advice, and the presenter answers and explains their point of view.

Communicative methodology and soft skills

Communicative activities allow the teacher to avoid stereotypical techniques in

the lesson and to enhance students’ motivation. What is more, they could help

reduce learners’ stress and create a positive classroom climate. Communicative

activities encourage cooperation as well as competition and develop critical

thinking skills through socially structured interactions and activities.

In this respect, effective learning tasks not only provide opportunities for students

to notice how language is used and learn to use it themselves, but also involve

discovery, reflection and interaction. A perfect example of this is the project

approach mentioned above. Undoubtedly, with the help of the communicative

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methodology, both the cognitive and emotional abilities of students are

developed, which is an essential part of the contemporary learning process.

References

Chard, S. (1998). The Project Approach Book One. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Chard, S. (1998). The Project Approach Book Two. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: OUP.

Hurwitz, A. and Goddard, A. (1969). Games to Improve Your Child’s English. Simon

and Schuster.

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Being a Young Teacher

Maria Stoyanova

I have always liked writing, and yet, I find it difficult

to start this article. My mind is hesitant. Should I

be dramatic and outline the issues of the Bulgarian

educational system, or should I focus more on the

good sides of working as a teacher? Will it be

better to simply mention how I arrange my lesson

plans or is it a smarter idea to admit how teaching

actually makes me feel?

My name is Maria Stoyanova and I am 24 years old.

I barely feel like an adult. Hopefully, my

perspective will be helpful, or at least informative,

to the public.

To begin with – I have never meant to become a teacher. During my teenage years

I used to picture myself as a successful lawyer, doctor, journalist or even a

member of the European parliament … The common goals any diligent student

could dream of achieving. Nonetheless, as the years passed, I gradually changed

my mind. All of my classmates decided to pursue such mainstream careers. By

mainstream I do not mean anything offensive – I am just focusing on how

underrated or overrated some professions are nowadays. My biggest dream to be

a paediatrician crushed when my cousin died because of a doctor’s mistake when I

Maria Stoyanova teaches English at the Lyudmil Stoyanov Foreign Language High School in Blagoevgrad. She is currently assisting all her students in the successful completion of their course of study, as well as in the participation in numerous extracurricular activities, plenty of contests and competitions. Email: maria.k.stoyanova@mail.bg

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was 15 years old. And here we are today – sometimes your life has a better plan

for you than your actual ambitions.

My first experience as a teacher came from the compulsory state practice course

any linguistics student has to go through in order to receive a teaching diploma.

When I entered the classroom to watch my former English teacher give a lesson-

now as an undergraduate, not a high-school student – something hit me. I saw

the enthusiasm, the difficulties, the happiness and the pain in the teenagers’ eyes.

And I could no longer forget this mixture of feelings and thoughts. Therefore, I

promised myself that I would be a good teacher – as good as the teachers I

admired, and better than the ones who could not manage to contribute to my

education.

From then on, time has passed very quickly – I have been working as a full-time

high-school teacher for 2 academic years now and I enjoy every second of it. Still,

I realize that I have to grow into a better, more qualified professional. I have to

read and implement new strategies every day, and to enhance my knowledge all

the time, but the work is worth it.

And the surprising part is that, despite my weaknesses, most of my students seem

to look up to me. I do not even have the best pronunciation, sometimes it

happens to me not to know the meaning of some words that we come across in

the process of gaining new skills and knowledge. Such moments could be very

stressful for a young person. What I remember each time something like that

happens to me is that I am there to teach the young generation, aged 14-19, but

also, I myself am there to learn. From my perspective, teenagers are underrated.

While it is true that a lot of them sometimes have many issues with punctuality

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and behaviour, their souls are genuinely pure and they put such ‘cool’ masks to

protect themselves from the world – their parents and teachers who sometimes

have unreasonable expectations, the unstable economic situation, and the

harassment from their peers. What they have been teaching me for more than 2

years now is how to remain calm, hold my horses, explain my thoughts clearly,

and look at the different perspectives. Sincerely – is there any other career that

can offer you such satisfaction and deep communication and understanding? I

believe that we – the teachers – are blessed; however, we take that for granted at

times.

What I do at the Academic Lyudmil Stoyanov Foreign Language High School, apart

from teaching English in the standard way – is acting as the current Prose/ Poetry

/ Debate/ Duo and Oratory Coach of the school team. This is one of my favourite

experiences – our students are competing in the Bulgarian English Speech and

Debate Tournaments (BEST Foundation); present their own thoughts (in the

Oratory and Debate categories) and some other works of art in the Prose, Duo and

Poetry categories. What is more – they do that in English, in front of many people

– in a creative and interesting way. This is the funny part of school and we are

supposed to have fun and bring trophies – which we do – the FLHS Blagoevgrad

team has been the one with the biggest number of awards in general since the

beginning of these competitions.

Being a teacher is a truly wonderful experience – I have never had so much fun,

and my life has never been more meaningful and rewarding. However, of course,

there are some drawbacks. As you can imagine – there is a certain hierarchy in the

educational system, and some of the more experienced colleagues are not really

fond of a young person’s strategies and ways of teaching. Despite our differences

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in ages and methods, I know that all the advice and criticism I receive from the

others could only make me better.

To sum up – I am still searching for my own style and ways as a teacher. The most

beautiful part, though, is that I have an army of motivated students to help me

shape my professional and personal qualities so that I could be adequate enough.

If life is a journey, then I am blessed to be accompanied by the best.

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Interview with

Tanya Bikova Interviews Marjorie

Rosenberg

Marjorie Rosenberg taught

at the university in Graz,

Austria, and now works with

corporate clients, trains

teachers and writes ELT

materials for business

English and on learner preferences. She has spoken

at over 100 international conferences and is currently the IATEFL Vice President,

having served as President from April 2015 – April 2017.

Tanya:

Marjorie, thank you for agreeing to this interview. In your interviews published or

uploaded on the Internet you say that you studied music in Buffalo, New York

because you wanted to be an opera singer, and taught music in public schools for

several years before moving to Europe. You began teaching English in an adult

education institution, and have been teaching EFL for more than 30 years in

Austria, becoming Coordinator of IATEFL BESIG (The Business English Special

Interest Group) as well. Is teaching Music, English as a foreign language or

business English different, apart from the subject itself?

Tanya Bikova is a teacher of English at the High School of Mathematics and Sciences, Blagoevgrad. Since April 2014 she has been a co-opted BETA-IATEFL Committee Member. Email: tanyabikova@abv.bg

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Marjorie

Teaching music is completely different from teaching English although we also

have to teach pupils to ‘read’ music. However, with English I didn’t need to teach

my Austrian students a new alphabet but instead taught them grammar,

vocabulary, pronunciation, communication, fluency and so on. Business English is

similar to general English although there is specialized vocabulary we need to

teach. Many of the methods are similar, however, and I based some of the

activities in my Business English Communication Games (Express Publishing)

resource book on ideas I learned using Jill Hadfield’s Communication Games.

Business English learners as well as general English learners enjoy activities which

are engaging and fun, and encourage them to try out language. As I find this to be

an excellent way to learn myself, I feel that the methodology here overlaps and

we can easily borrow ideas from general English for our business English lessons.

However, one of the main differences in business English is that it is more

purposeful. Students need to be able to do something with the language rather

than just learn it or learn about it. This creates a different dynamic in the

classroom and the type of practice we do needs to be realistic and something that

learners can easily put into practice outside the classroom.

Tanya:

You have written the methodology book Spotlight on Learning Styles (2013), Delta

Publishing, and have been interested in learning styles for a long time. You say

you are a visual and kinesthetic, but not an auditory type of learner. How is that

even possible since you studied to become an opera singer? Most of my musical

students have been very good at languages as well.

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Marjorie

It could be that not being very auditory was one of the reasons I didn’t end up

with a career in music. I found that I learned music best by reading the notes and

practicing the pieces myself, less so with listening to the CDs. I also memorized by

walking about and found that opera was easier to remember as it involved the

emotions and the acting. Just learning songs was more difficult as the texts were

not in context in the same way. There are a number of musicians who are less

auditory than others. I find transposing at sight difficult as is sight reading (singing

from music I have never heard), others do it with no problem. Being good at

languages because you are a musician might have to do with the flow of words or

the fact that we work at pronunciation and articulation. I am now learning Hebrew

because I wanted to learn a language with a different alphabet and have to find

little tricks to remember certain letters as I don’t immediately ‘hear’ them when I

see them or ‘see’ them when I hear them.

Tanya:

You also say that when a teacher has a group of 20 – 30 students, it just isn’t

possible to do activities in three different ways to suit all learning styles and most

of us tend to teach in the way we learn. That`s just sad. Another thing you say is

“Michael Grinder, whose brother John was one of the founders of NLP, explains

that once we have received information, we need to have access to it and if we

are auditory for example, we remember best what we hear or say but if we got

the information in visual form we may not be able to access it easily. This is a bit

like a computer, data is useless unless we know where we have saved it.”

Education in groups sounds like mission impossible then? Even if we vary our

teaching styles, if students cannot learn to rely on their weaker learning

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styles, especially in stressful situations like tests/exams, for example, what else

can we do?

Marjorie

I mostly make use of the VAK (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic) learner types as

well as the cognitive styles (global and analytic). In order to address everyone in

the classroom we need to use a variety of methods. I had a text, for example,

which I introduced by playing a song and giving learners the task to fill in the

missing words (auditory). To add in another element, (the kinaesthetic one) it is

possible to put the missing words on cards and instruct the learners to put the

cards into the correct order while listening to complete the text. We then did a

crossword puzzle with words from the text (visual and analytic), read the text

aloud (auditory and visual) and discussed the gist of the text (global) and

completed comprehension exercises (analytic). To finish off the unit, we did a role

play (kinaesthetic). I didn’t mention the different learning styles I was aiming at

but just did a mixture of activities which my students appeared to enjoy very

much. If I rely on my own style and what I am comfortable with, I may not think to

offer some of these activities. This is why I think teachers need to know what

their preferred styles are, observe themselves and then decide if there are some

activities they seem to do more often than others, or if there are some they never

do at all. The idea is to stretch out of your own comfort zone and offer a type of

“smorgasbord” of tasks to your students.

Tanya:

I`ve recently watched an American teacher on the Internet who has conducted a

survey with his students, asking them “What makes a good teacher great”? Some

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of them answered that a great teacher eats apples; another common reply was

“great teachers sing”… Do you sing in class, Marjorie, and what do you think

makes a good teacher great?

Marjorie

I sang in class for years. We always began with a song which I would explain to

the learners and use as a learning experience. I had a student who had taken

general English with me and then signed up for my business English class. On the

first day he asked me why we didn’t sing anything and told me “After a long day in

the office, I need a song to switch my brain to English”. I then began looking for

appropriate songs for the business English class as well.

The question as to what makes a teacher great is probably the hardest one to

answer. I think that when a teacher is enthusiastic themselves about the subject,

is interested in their students as people, and never stops learning themselves,

they then possess elements which may make them great. But being “great” is also

subjective. What works for one student may not work at all for another. So

listening to your students and supplying them with what they need is, in my

opinion, vital to becoming a “great” teacher.

Tanya:

You have written extensively in the business English field for different publishing

houses. Is that what awaits us in the future – catering more and more for teaching

of English for vocational or professional purposes?

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Marjorie

This is also difficult to say as I don’t have a view of the entire market. The project I

am working on now (Business Partner with Pearson) is for universities and geared

towards that age group. It is business English but takes into account the fact that

they have not yet worked in their chosen fields. However, there is still a very large

market for general English as evidenced by the number of language schools,

courses and course books available just as the market for ESP (English for Specific

Purposes) is growing as well. I teach at my local bank but my students need

completely different things, e.g. vocabulary for human resources (HR), corporate

social responsibility (CSR), dealing with bankruptcies and loans and project

management. Each of these is separate regarding vocabulary and the learners’

needs, and I used different material for each of them.

Tanya:

What is your opinion on the role of new technologies in ELT?

Marjorie

This is a very broad field. At the university, I used Moodle, which I found helpful

as I could inform students about assignments, what we had done in class, what

they needed to prepare, and upload links. We used their mobile phones to look at

their photos and discuss them, I gave them information about certain Facebook

groups and links to Youtube videos to work with outside class. I occasionally used

PowerPoint presentations in class although I preferred the “human touch” when

teaching face-to-face.

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Tanya:

What are your professional plans for the future?

Marjorie

I plan to keep writing. I am very excited about re-releasing Communicative

Business English Activities, and will continue to work with other authors on

Business Partner. It is a multi-level course and I began with B2 and am now

working on B2+. I enjoy the writing and the challenge of searching for materials

and ideas. I also plan to continue teaching the corporate clients I have and

hopefully continue to travel the world to conferences to give talks and meet

colleagues from many different places.

Tanya:

You obviously love traveling. How has this experience and being IATEFL President

and Vice President influenced and enriched you?

Marjorie

I learned a great deal being IATEFL Vice President and President and have found

that I can use the things I learned in my teaching. Once we become active

volunteers in a Teacher Association, the chance to learn soft skills is at our

fingertips. Being an IATEFL Trustee also taught me about charity law, governance

of an association, how to set agendas and run meetings and how to see the big

picture without forgetting the details. These are all valuable skills that can be

used in many aspects outside the association. It has also opened doors to places I

would not have visited on my own. I am thrilled that I have had the chance to

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travel to Dubai, Peru, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Moldavia, the Balkans

and now to Bulgaria as well as Belgium, France, and the UK, to name only a few.

Tanya:

Do you have hobbies outside the ELT world? Could you tell us something about

them?

Marjorie

I still sing and have been practicing in order to perform at our “Songs of Love and

Protest” evening event at IATEFL in Brighton. I took part in the “Shakespeare and

Music” evening a few years ago and it was great fun to perform again. I also go

regularly to the opera in Graz and to musicals when I am in New York or London.

Other hobbies include reading, cooking, going for walks and just relaxing.

Tanya:

We are really delighted to welcome you as a plenary speaker to 27th BETA-IATEFL

Annual International Conference - 22nd – 24th June, 2018 in Burgas. Is this going

to be your first visit to Bulgaria and how do you feel about it?

Marjorie

I am very excited about my first trip to Bulgaria. I saw the photos on Facebook last

year and decided then that it was a country I wanted to visit. I would like to thank

Express Publishing for making this trip possible – I am very grateful to them for all

their support. In addition, I would like to thank BETA for inviting me as a plenary

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speaker and arranging my visit. I very much look forward to meeting everyone

and having the chance to visit a country I have heard so much about.

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Poetry Corner

The Kindness of Strangers Brian Bilston There is a beauty that walks in the darkness, makes its way among the bombs and broken lives, offers blankets and shoulders to cry on, puts on kettles and bandages, mends what it can, and asks for not one thing back, as it wraps in its arms the troubled night, and waits for the morning and its pale sunlight.

Reproduced with the kind permission of the author

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Forthcoming Events in the World of ELT

52nd Annual IATEFL Conference, Brighton 2018

PCEs 9th April 2018

Conference and Exhibition 10th - 13th April 2018

For further information, visit:

https://conference.iatefl.org/

IATEFL monthly webinars

For further information, visit: http://www.iatefl.org/web-events/webinars

SIG Webinars

For further information, visit: http://www.iatefl.org/web-events/sig-

webinars

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TESOL 2018 Chicago, Illinois

27–30 March 2018

Sustaining Dialogues Across the TESOL Community

For information visit: http://www.tesol.org/convention2017/tesol-2018-call-for-

proposals

TESOL Online Courses & Virtual Seminars

For information visit:

http://www.tesol.org/attend-and-learn/online-courses-seminars

BETA Partners’ Forthcoming Events

BETA members can attend the conferences for the registration fee paid by the

members of the Host Associations

16th ELTA Serbia Conference ‘The Teacher’s Guide through ELT Galaxy’,

Belgrade, 11-12 May 2018

27th IATEFL Poland Conference Wrocław 2018 – the Meeting Place for

Experts, Wrocław, 21-23 September 2018

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Writing for the BETA E-Newsletter

Have you ever wondered if you should write an article for the E-Newsletter of BETA?

Please DO! Your contribution may act as a springboard for discussions,

inspiration for colleagues or facilitate the work of fellow teachers!

What exactly do you have to do?

If you feel you have something you would like to share:

Send us your article in MS Word format.

Send us a photo of you (in jpeg format) and short biographical information

(about 50 words) which will accompany your article.

You will receive feedback from us within 10 days of your submission.

Please, check the deadlines and the topics of the forthcoming issues. Note

that the topics announced are just illustrative; if you would like to submit an

article on a different topic, please do. It will be considered for publishing.

We are looking forward to your contributions.

For further information contact: beta.iateflbg@gmail.com

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Notes for Contributors

Your article must have not been previously published and should not be

under consideration for publication elsewhere.

The length of your article may vary - short contributions of 300 – 800 words

are as good as long ones.

Electronic submission of your article is preferred to the following e-mail

address: beta.iateflbg@gmail.com

Text of the article: Calibri, 14 points, with 1.5 spacing.

Headings and subheading: Calibri, 24 points, bold, centred; first letter

capitalized.

Author names and title as well as contact details should be submitted in a

separate file accompanying the article.

About 50 words of biographical data should be included.

New paragraphs – to be indicated with one separate line.

Referencing should follow the APA referencing style.

References in the text should be ordered alphabetically and contain the

name of the author and the year of publication, e.g. (Benson, 1993; Hudson,

2008).

Quotations have to include the relevant page number(s), e.g. (Peters,

2006:76).

Tables, figures or diagrams should be numbered accordingly and included in

the relevant part of the text. Each should have an explanatory caption.

The editors will not return any material submitted, but they reserve the

right to make editorial changes.

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Established 1991 in Sofia, BETA seeks to build a network of ELT professionals on a national and regional (Southeast Europe) level and establish the association as a recognized mediator

between educators and state bodies, public and other organizations.

BETA members are English teaching professionals from all educational sectors in Bulgaria – primary, secondary and tertiary, both state and private. BETA activities include organizing

annual conferences, regional seminars and workshops; information dissemination; networking with other teachers’ associations and NGOs in Bulgaria and abroad; exchange of

representatives with teachers’ associations from abroad.

We are on the web:

http://www.beta-iatefl.org/

Thank you for your support!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles in this e-newsletter are solely those of the

author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or the official opinion of BETA-IATEFL or the editors.

Responsibility for the information and the views expressed in the e-newsletter lies entirely with the

author(s) of the publications.

NEWSLETTER TEAM:

Editors: Zarina Markova

Sylvia Velikova

Design: Zarina Markova

BETA – IATEFL

E-mail: beta.iateflbg@gmail.com

Address: PoBox 1047, Sofia 1000, BULGARIA

ISSN 1314-6874